Libel
by bittie752
Summary: With power and money come hangers on looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. Set about a year after Reputation isn't Everything.


**This was written as birthday gift to KelKat9.**

The Doctor groaned when he heard his mobile ring on the other side of the bedroom. It was his personal mobile since his business one was purposefully turned off this weekend. Slowly he untangled his arms from around the beautiful woman beside him, grabbed a pair of pants that had been hastily discarded the night before, and stumbled over to source of the infernal ringing.

There was no doubt in his mind that it was his sister calling since only three people had this number and the other two of them were in this hotel room, one of whom was still gloriously naked in his bed. Donna had better have a good reason for disturbing his only weekend off in the last two months.

"The world had better be ending, Donna," he growled into the receiver.

_"Oh, it's gonna be, Sunshine. At least your world is when Rose sees today's Sun Times,_" Donna shrieked. He had to pull the phone away from his ear in order to have a chance at retaining his hearing._ "What the bloody hell do you think that you're playing at?_"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. So can you just save us both some time and please just tell me what you are on about?" He moved out of the bedroom and into the lounge area of the suite so as not to disturb the slumber of his companion. Not that he was likely to wake her; she could sleep for England after a night of brilliant shagging.

_"You are supposed to be dating Rose. Not that anybody in the press knows that, the two of you have been secretive enough. And then you're caught on camera making out with some brunette bimbo in an alley last month. AN ALLEY! The little tart sold her story along with the photos."_

"Fuck." John grabbed his computer, sat down on the sofa, and pulled up the tab's website.

_"I thought that you had changed, John,"_ Donna raged. _"I thought that Rose was good for you. I just can't believe you did this to her."_

"I didn't," the Doctor assured her, but Donna wasn't listening. Agonizingly slowly, the picture loaded of him and the mysterious brunette and he breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly he scanned the article and looked at the picture of the woman claiming to be his lover.

"_And no one can get ahold of Rose. Jackie Tyler showed up on my front step this morning demanding to know the whereabouts of her daughter. She's out for blood, and I think I may just help her flay you alive."_

"Shut up, Donna." Slamming the computer lid shut, he stood and began to pace. "The woman in the photo is Rose. On Halloween we went to a party and she wore a wig. We both had a little too much to drink and got a little carried away. Before you say anything, it ended with the kissing, probably a minute or so after this picture was taken." He took a deep breath. "And I've never met that mystery woman in my life."

_"Rose gonna back you up on that?" _Dona's tone was cold.

"Of course she will," he sighed, his free hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Whoever this woman is, she's lying. I need you to call the lawyers. I want cease and desist letters sent to that charlatan and the paper." His anger was rising. How dare anyone try to ruin things his life. Especially now after he had Rose. "I also want to sue them for slander or liable, whichever one it is when it's in print. And tell Jackie that Rose will call her as soon as she wakes up."

The Doctor could almost hear the eye roll in Donna's voice._ "It's nearly noon. What on Earth is she still doing asleep?"_

A small smile crept across his face. It wasn't the way that he had envisioned telling Donna the good news but he was so ridiculously happy. "We were up late celebrating…"

_"Stop right there," s_he demanded. _"I really don't need to know what the bloody hell you and your girlfriend get up to in the wee hours of the morning. Just make sure you call when she gets up. We need to do some damage control if that really is Rose in the photo."_

She hung up before he could reassure her that it really was Rose and that he hadn't been even remotely interested in anyone since the beautiful, brilliant, blonde heiress had breezed into his life. This was supposed to be a happy weekend, one that he planned meticulously. Now this woman's story might ruin everything. He'd spent so much time trying to remake his image with Rose's help.

No. He wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let lies ruin his and Rose's happiness. They needed a plan to combat the bad press. Even if they got the paper to print a retraction, some damage had already been done. Blimey, he was glad that he wasn't anywhere near Jackie right now. She would have slapped him into next year without even waiting to see if there was a rational explanation.

Rose would know how to handle this; after all it was what she did best. Well, maybe not best, he thought, a wicked smirk forming on his face. She was _best_ at a few of those things they had done last night. But she was also very good at her job, public relations and damage control. He was just worried about how a scandal hitting so close to home would affect her, especially when it involved some other woman falsely accusing him of cheating.

Running a hand through his hair, he groaned. Today wasn't going to be nearly as fun as he'd hoped but the sooner they got this issue under control, the sooner that he and Rose could start planning the next step in their lives together. It was time to do what he did best, take action.

Forty five minutes later, he had ordered room service, taken a quick shower, made arrangements to return to London a day earlier than planned, and was waiting on his lawyer to return an email. Behind him, the door to the bedroom opened.

"Mmm, is that coffee I smell?" Rose asked, stepping into the lounge. Turning to look at her, he marvelled at just how beautiful she looked in the mornings. She was only wearing a dressing gown. Her hair was mussed, her face clean of makeup, and he wanted nothing more than to take her back to bed. Instead of acting on his desire when he pulled her onto the sofa next to him, he poured her a cup of coffee and placed a buttered piece of toast on a plate for her. Anything he could do to keep his hands busy and to stave off the inevitable for a few minutes longer.

"So," she said after taking a sip of her coffee. "What's the plan for today? Are we going out and celebrating? Or are we staying in and celebrating?"

Gently, he took her hand and kissed the knuckle of her left ring finger, right above the ring that given her last night. "I'm afraid that we have to go back to London, right away. There's a jet on standby whenever you're ready."

She paled. "Oh god. What's wrong? Who's hurt?"

"No, no, no, everyone's fine. Well, your mother is in a snit and is likely to have a go at me later. It won't even matter to her that none of this is my fault…" He stopped abruptly when Rose clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Doctor, tell me what's going on," she demanded, keeping her voice steady even though he could tell that she was nervous and upset. This was not good, very not good.

Moving her hand away, he picked up the laptop and showed her the article. She took it and didn't say a word. He watched as her eyes scanned down the page and was still quiet. That couldn't be good. What if she was mad? What if she was upset enough to give back the ring? No, that couldn't be it. He hadn't _done _anything.

"Donna called first thing. Well, I say first thing and it was closer to half eleven," he rambled, trying to fill the awkwardness between them. "She was yelling so loud, I'm surprised I haven't gone deaf. Or that she didn't wake you. I still don't think that she believes me that it's you in the picture. Probably won't until you tell her yourself. And I don't think your mum will ever really believe it. I'm pretty sure she already hated me and now…" He looked up at her. "Rose, please say something."

Slowly Rose closed the laptop and, instead of saying anything, she laughed. More than laughed, she was cackling hysterically, clutching her sides as she tried to catch her breath. Of all the responses that he'd imagined, this was not one of them. "I don't find this the least bit funny," he moaned.

"Aw, love," she cooed as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's sort of funny. At least I think it is, mostly because it's me in the picture. I guess this is what we get for being a little too private about our relationship."

"Maybe." He buried his head in her neck and sighed. "It still doesn't explain what that woman has to gain by pretending to be having some sort of affair with me."

Her fingers raked through his hair, nails gently scratching his scalp. "No idea, but will find out together, yeah?"

"Promise me you won't listen to your mother when she tells you I'm not good enough for you," he mumbled against her skin. "I mean, I know I'm not good enough for you, but I had hoped that by the time you figured that out that you'd be comfortable enough with me that finding someone else would just seem like too much work to bother with."

Chuckling, she pressed a kiss on his head. "I already figured out I was too good for you," she teased. "But I love you anyway, and I won't let Mum or anyone else try to persuade me otherwise. It just wouldn't be possible. "

"I love you, too," he said with conviction. "I'm waiting to hear back from my solicitor, but we can, most likely, get the article yanked today. But…"

"But once it's out on the Internet, it's always out there," Rose sighed. "We'll sort this out, I promise. Even if that means that we have to make a few announcements before we thought we'd have to."

oOo

On the flight back to London, Rose worked tirelessly on her press release announcing that she and the Doctor had been in a relationship for several months. She was going to attach several photos of her and the Doctor with it as well. The one that he had taken of her on Halloween in the wig was going to be the focal point of their request for the removal of the article and the retraction. It was a quick and easy way to dismiss that woman's claim that she was having an affair with the Doctor. They would wait a few weeks before officially making the second announcement.

Rose had also talked to her dad, and he'd understood immediately. With as high profile as Pete Tyler and Vitex were, there had been more than one false allegation against him and his company. It came with the trade, he'd always said.

Jackie, however, had been much harder to calm down. She didn't believe Rose that was the girl in the picture, choosing instead to believe that Rose was covering for her ne'er-do-well boyfriend. Rose had to bite her tongue to stop from correcting boyfriend to fiancé. They hadn't told anyone yet since it had only happened last night and blurting it out during a row with her mum was not how Rose wanted to break the news.

She, did however, chastise her mum for calling the Doctor lazy. Everything that the Doctor had he had built for himself, just like Pete had. So what if Rose's bank account was larger, the Doctor didn't need her money. The only thing that he wanted was Rose and all she wanted was him.

"I'm sorry about all of this," the Doctor whispered. They were sitting side by side in a cab on the way to Donna's. Neutral territory, he was calling it. "It's entirely my fault. Those youthful indiscretions just won't go away, and they make it so easy for people to believe that I'm still capable of that kind of behaviour."

"It's probably just someone looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. They snapped a picture of us in that alley and took advantage. This is on them, not you." Leaning her head onto his shoulder, she sighed. "I'm sure Dad's already got Jake looking into this woman. Whatever she's playing at, we'll stop it."

He nodded and looked out the window. "We're nearly there. I suppose that we'll have to tell them about the engagement. Somehow I hoped that the circumstances of the announcement would be much happier."

"I'm happy. Are you happy?" she asked.

"Of course I am," he insisted. "But I'm worried about how it will go over."

Snorting, Rose shook her head. "We're giving Mum a wedding to plan. She'll be ecstatic. I might have to rein her in a bit, but otherwise she'll be happy as a clam."

He grinned at her. "As long as it's not too over the top and it doesn't take too long. Six months. If there isn't a wedding in six months we're eloping."

"Just a bit eager, are we?" Rose laughed. She knew that it didn't matter what life threw at them: fake scandals, business stress, in-laws, or children (one day hopefully). She believed in him, loved him and that was all that really mattered.

Turning towards her, he leaned down and briefly pressed his lips to hers. "To spend the rest of my life with you? I can't wait."


End file.
